


Erectile Experiment

by windchijmes



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, Incest, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-19
Updated: 2013-05-20
Packaged: 2017-12-05 19:44:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/727203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windchijmes/pseuds/windchijmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Kili/Fili get-together, sexual experimentation fic. </p><p><b>Chapter 1 - </b>Kili chances upon a couple of Dwarves rutting. He gets aroused but doesn't truly know what happened. So naturally, he goes home and experiments with his brother's body.</p><p><b>Chapter 2 - </b>After that experiment, Fili feels guilty about it. And when Kili becomes distanced and distracted, Fili is even more upset. Their misunderstanding comes to a head one night, and they make it up to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Fili.”

“No.”

“ _Fili_ …”

“ _No_.”

“Brother, _please_ …”

“I said no!”

“I want to!”

Thoroughly appalled, Fili just stares at his brother. When Mamma gave him a baby brother forty-five years ago, he didn’t think that innocent ball of fluff would grow up to be the devil.

Now Kili, the aforementioned devil, is sitting before him on the bed, arms crossed, his face still so young and adorable – with that youthful roundness to his scruffy cheeks – even if it’s wearing the world’s biggest pout. He’s sulky and self-righteous about it, like he has every right to be annoyed that _his brother refused to get naked on his request_.

“I’m not taking my clothes off,” Fili says flatly. He crosses his arms too. He knows it’s a little ridiculous to be throwing a temper tantrum at age fifty, but two can play this game.

“It’s just an experiment!” Kili fires at him.

“I _know_ you,” Fili retorts, not giving any ground. “Everything goes too far in the end!”

“Says who?”

“Says that time you stuffed ten meat rolls into your mouth because you think you can.”

“Oh,” Kili falters a little, before redoubling his efforts. “It’s not the same this time!”

“How so?”

“I’ll… _swear_ on it,” Kili actually looks sincere. He lifts his little finger. “I swear on my finger that I will stop the moment it feels bad. I promise, Fili. I really do.” He stares intently at Fili, channelling all his powers of persuasion into his eyes.

And like _magic_ , Fili hesitates. He starts to frown and fidget in that manner when he’s losing steam. “I really hate it when you make that stupid face,” he gripes and growls. But it’s too late. Sighing explosively, he hooks his own finger around Kili’s. “Fine. And you’ll better stop if it feels bad, or I’ll smack you till you scream.”

“All right, all right,” Kili waves one hand, while the other has already snapped forward to grab his brother’s wrist. He tugs at Fili impatiently. “Come on now, strip and lie down.”

So, after an hour of wheedling and cajoling and braving the wrath of his brother, Kili is in a rather odd – and very interesting – situation where he is kneeling on the bed, _clothed_ , and Fili is lying prone on his front, _unclothed_. Well actually, Fili’s arms are still crossed and his head is resting on his hands, and he looks bored out of his mind.

“Get to it, whatever you’re trying to do,” Fili barks at him. “It’s cold!”

“Fine!” So Kili grabs one of his brother’s golden braids and tugs it. Hard. And he grins when Fili hurls a curse at him. “Not so cold now, eh?”

But in between getting a piss out of Fili, and being absolutely determined to get through his experiment, Kili is nervous. And anxious. And downright _excited_. Ignoring his brother’s muttered grumbling, Kili closes his eyes and lets his mind roll back to That Day in the halls of their vast home.

It was just two days ago, and everyone was in the Grand Hall for the spring banquet. Not Kili. Banquets were usually the same, similar affairs of roaring Dwarves and loads of meats and sweet ale. He’d rather test the new bow he had crafted for himself. Fili couldn’t join him; he had to do his duty of smiling blankly and nodding like a silly-looking bird to all the guests. So Kili went alone, wandering deep into the labyrinth of corridors.

He remembered he had _heard_ them first – loud, panting grunts and groans. He’d thought he recognised those noises. Those were the sounds of combat, and Kili thought perhaps there were Dwarves fighting in one of the secluded inner chambers. Then he reached the chamber, and saw _them_. That Scene.

Two Dwarven men wrestling each other on the bed. Several things immediately looked strange to Kili. They were naked as the day they were born, and Kili saw that their bodies were dense and thickly-muscled the way fully-mature Dwarves would look. And hairy. Kili’s heartbeat tripped a little at that sight; he didn’t know why though. Then he thought they were biting each other, which wouldn’t have been strange, but no blood was drawn and no injury wrought. Their mouths and hands were all over each other, grabbing and stroking and snatching. That was when Kili saw what was between their legs, and he wondered how he could possibly have missed them at first sight –

Large, heavily-veined _cocks_ , grown to twice the size of normal. They looked _so_ hard, and wet, for the heads of those huge shafts seemed to be dribbling with fluid.

Before Kili could even wrap his brain around that sight, another one arrived to etch its place in Kili’s blown mind.

One Dwarf shoved apart the other’s powerful thighs, lowered his head, and sucked his cock into his mouth.

“Are you asleep?” Fili’s strident complaint snaps Kili out of his reverie.

Eyes flying open, Kili stares a little hazily at his brother. His heart is pounding in his chest, and his hands are shaking. The pit of his belly feels weird, like it’s heated and churning, and the unnatural warmth seems to be sliding lower and lower right into his loins. He keeps seeing those aroused, full-grown cocks in his mind, and he suddenly wonders if his own will look the same in future…or if Fili’s looks like that when it’s hard?

“All right, I’m finished with this,” Fili announces. He looks tired and impatient and annoyed, and he’s already rising to his elbows.

Without thinking, Kili shoves his brother back down. Fili yelps in indignation, then goes rigid when Kili’s hands begin stroking his back.

“Kili…” Fili’s tone is brittle. “What are you doing?”

“Quiet,” Kili hushes him. “Just lie still and let me do my work.”

“Your _work_ ,” Fili snorts, sounding amused. But he obliges, sighing and settling back comfortably on his front. “If you’re giving me a massage, you have to press harder or you’re not getting the aches and kinks out.” He instructs in that know-it-all manner of his.

It's not a massage, but Kili doesn’t bother correcting his brother. Instead, he takes a deep breath and concentrates on the body laid out before him. Again, he sees those sweating, muscled, tangled bodies in his mind, and his breathing becomes shallow. He has work to do. Fili’s form is different from those men, of course. Both of them are striplings still. Over time, their bodies will grow thick with hair and muscles, but now, his own body is rather the same as Fili’s. Mostly smooth; sturdily-muscled at the shoulders, chest and legs, but lean everywhere else. That’s where the similarities end, though. Unlike Kili’s dark hair, Fili has a dusting of golden curls over his skin, the same shade as that on his head. It grows darker between his legs, Kili catches a glimpse of the thatch of hair at Fili’s groin as his body shifts on the bed, relaxing into the light stroking Kili is giving him.

Kili keeps his touch fleeting, just running his palms over his brother’s back in large circles, slowly moving down his spine, until he reaches Fili’s tailbone. His brother’s back unconsciously undulates under his hands, arching into the touch. It’s amazing what Kili discovers. They’ve seen each other’s naked bodies countless times, even touched on occasion when they played like overgrown puppies. But like this right now, Fili’s body laid out and displayed for him, at the mercy of his whims and fancies, it’s nothing short of _fascinating_. Kili discovers that Fili likes the callused skin of his palms the best, when the coarse ridges rub over his skin, because it makes Fili sigh.

“How does it feel?” Kili asks softly. He doesn’t dare raise his volume; he doesn’t want Fili to hear the tremble in his voice.

“Good…” Fili murmurs. His head is half-turned on his hands, and Kili can see that his eyes are shut. With his golden hair and eyelashes, he looks almost angelic.

Kili’s eyes drift down to Fili’s legs. His heart is starting to pound the way it did when he saw the two Dwarves wrestling in bed. They had their hands on each other’s thighs and they had groaned so _loudly_. Inhaling deeply, Kili places his hands on the backs of Fili’s thighs and starts rubbing at the skin. There is a moment when Fili’s body tenses under his skin, then slowly, it eases. Encouraged, Kili gradually shifts his rubbing and stroking higher, until his fingertips are right beneath Fili’s buttocks.

For an overly-long heartbeat, both of them are frozen in position. Fili seems to be consciously keeping his eyes squeezed shut, while Kili feels how the skin under his hands is shivering and he _wants to go on_.

Kili bites his lip in hesitation. He doesn’t quite know where he’s going with this, or what he’s even experimenting with in the first place. What is he really trying to do with Fili? So, he throws caution to the wind, and slides his hands up over Fili’s buttocks. The swells are full and firm and warm, and unbidden, he squeezes hard handfuls of those mounds.

A groan – long and low and trembling – resounds from Fili.

Kili is so startled by the sudden sound he almost jerks away. But he doesn’t; he just keeps kneading at Fili’s buttocks, thumbs occasionally wandering into the tight cleft between and drawing even louder groans from Fili.

Something about that – the sounds Fili is making – makes the heat in Kili’s loins return, and blaze even more furiously now. There is a stirring between Kili’s legs too, pulsing and stiffening. He doesn’t fully know what’s happening, but the hardness and hotness feels good, and Kili wonders if it’s right to feel this way? After all, it’s the noises from his _own brother_ that’s making him feel like this.

“Kili,” his brother calls to him. It is a different voice Fili’s using. Kili’s never heard this before. It’s much lower than Fili’s usual register, and rough with something. He certainly looks neither weary nor bored now. His eyes have snapped open. The expression in them is obscured, and his head is raised off his hands.

Kili stares unwaveringly into the darkened azure gaze before him. “I’m not done.”

“Why are you doing this?” Fili says again, and if it’s possible, his voice is hoarser than even just a moment ago.

“I…I saw them do this…and they looked like they really enjoyed it.” Kili confesses. He pulls away completely now, and already his hands miss his brother’s warm, quivering skin. “It looked like it felt really good…Does it, Fili? Feel good? Or does it feel bad and I should stop?”

Fili’s mouth drops open, but no words issue. He looks stricken and conflicted about something that he cannot quite put into words. There is a flood of emotions warring on his face. At length, he does speak, and his tone is thick with longing, and brittle with trepidation about it. “It feels good. _Don’t stop_.”

“Really?” Kili breaks into a grin. He hops up and presses his lips to his brother’s temple. “I’ll make you feel even better than good. There were so many things they were doing, I couldn’t quite note them all down. But I’ll try them _all_ and see which feels good for you. Let me know which ones you like best.”

“Note…you took _notes_?”

“It’s for my experiment,” Kili rolls his eyes. “Of course I did! Now turn over.”

“No.”

Kili isn’t expecting that, so for one long moment, he just gawks at his brother. “You have to. There’re more things I want to try!”

“No, I…” Fili is glaring at him now, but his cheeks are flushed with colour. “I cannot, I…I just…” he is _stammering_.

If he knows his brother, Fili is a lot of things. Confident to the point of arrogance, smooth and suave (the ladies say so but Kili thinks they’re hallucinating). Fili doesn’t ever _stammer_. Then, Kili notices the way Fili’s legs are shifting closer as if he’s trying to hide something, and the answer strikes him like a hammer to his brain.

“Are you _erect_?” Kili demands loudly.

“Shut up!” Fili hisses and his face is truly red now.

“You _are_!” Kili just crows, like he’s caught his brother red-handed for a crime, and will hold it over his head for the rest of their days. “You’re erect and you’re afraid to let me see!”

“I am _not_ turning over.”

Kili grins an insufferably smug grin. Then he cocks his head and analyses the situation. Fili has the stubbornness of a mule – Mamma says he got it from their Uncle Thorin – and if he says he will not turn over with _that expression_ , he simply won’t. So, Kili decides that the next logical course of action must be to do it for him.

“Very well, Fili,” Kili agrees, then he lunges forward, locks his limbs around his brother’s in a wrestling move that Mister Dwalin will be proud of, and flips him over.

Fili snarls and struggles, but again, his reaction is a beat too late. Kili lies above him, their limbs tangled together. They are almost of the same build now, certainly of the same height, but Fili still has more muscle on him, and Kili has to use his whole body to weigh his brother down. They are both thrashing, and Kili doesn’t remember how, but he ends up between Fili’s legs, and their groins press together suddenly.

They freeze at the same time, the heat and pressure from their fused groins stunning the both of them. They also discover another thing – Kili is _just as hard_ as his brother.

“You…” Fili’s eyes are wide.

“I’m erect too…” Kili replies with hardly any shame, and a great deal of wonder at his own body.

“I didn’t think you know what that word even means.”

“It means we’re _aroused_. I’m not stupid.”

They glare at each other. It is Fili who starts laughing first. Turning his head, he gives a few snorts at first, then breaks down into helpless chortling. “No, you’re not stupid,” he says in the midst of his mirth. “You’re just a foolish and ludicrous and mad Dwarfling.”

“Dwarf,” Kili corrects reflexively, but he is grinning too as he flops himself onto his brother. For a moment, they are both Dwarflings again and he is nestling against his brother for comfort. His warm, soothing, golden brother. Kili buries his face in Fili’s neck, breathing in his brother’s scent, and nuzzling into the skin. His brother smells nice, like a strange but _nice_ mix of metal and sun and pine and sky. He mouths at the skin to test if it tastes the same way it smells.

“Kili…” Fili’s tone is taking on that hoarseness again. He squirms beneath Kili’s mouth. “What are you…”

By now, Kili’s diligent mind has registered that Fili _sounds like that_ whenever something feels good. So Kili continues, pressing kisses and little bites over the skin until Fili’s shaking hands are clutching at his shoulders. Kili thinks at first Fili wants to push him away, but no, those hands draw him closer instead. At the same time, Kili remembers abruptly what he’s seen one of those Dwarves do. Opening his mouth, he suddenly sucks hard at Fili’s neck.

The response is amazing. Fili cries out and his whole body jerks into the caress.

Startled, Kili recoils and raises himself to his hands and knees so he can study his brother beneath him. “You like that, Fili?”

Fili pauses, then nods weakly. His eyes are fluttering, golden strands stealing into his mouth where he’s panting. His chest is rising and falling sharply. It must feel very good then; Kili’s never seen his brother in such a state. His gaze slides lower down, and finally he sees what Fili’s been trying to hide from him – his cock. Kili’s seen it before, of course. But it looks _different_ now.

It has risen to half-mast. It’s longer than Kili’s own, but not quite as thick, pale like the rest of Fili, and flushing red right before Kili’s eyes. It’s also twitching, _pulsing_ as it hardens.

“Don’t…” Fili sounds mortified. His hands move to cover himself, but Kili is faster and pins his brother’s wrists to the bed. “Kili…” Fili groans, and strangely, Kili’s reaction seems to make Fili even more aroused, for his cock stiffens even more.

Kili cannot tear his eyes away. His gaze greedily drinks in the sight of his brother’s almost fully-hard cock. It is nowhere as huge and thick as that of those Dwarves Kili had spied on, but it’s ridged with veins, and now the head is especially red as it blushes with arousal. “I like it…” Kili’s own voice has deepened and grown hoarse, like Fili’s. “It’s beautiful…”

Fili’s eyes grow impossibly round, and he swallows convulsively. “That’s a filthy thing to say…” he says but it sounds more like a moan. “You’re sick…we’re sick…”

“I don’t care,” Kili grunts. His brother’s cock is both pale and red and _so hard for him_. It’s beautiful, and Kili wants to touch it. _Inappropriately_. “I’ve been sick for a while…” he stares deep into his brother’s eyes. May as well confess now. Kili still hasn’t figured out what or where that line is between them, but he’s probably taken a few sick, mad _leaps_ over it, and not just _cross_ it.

“Let me continue…” Kili says. “I’ve seen them do more. I want to do more…let me…” He’s scarcely aware he’s babbling.

Fili is staring very hard at him. Unsteadily, he raises himself onto his elbows so he can look down. Then, he exhales breathily, and nods.

Slowly, carefully, Kili wraps one hand around Fili’s shaft. The heat from it surprises him and he almost lets go. Instead, he tightens his grasp a little, getting a sharp intake of breath from Fili. “Good?” he asks.

Fili makes a little noise in his throat that seems to indicate _yes_. “Go on,” he grates out.

It does become an experiment then. Kili tries with just his fingertips first, rubbing the roughened pads of his fingers over the heated flesh. Then he tries with his whole palm, stroking and kneading and fondling that pretty cock with different speeds and strengths until Fili’s hips are jerking up into his caresses and his voice is a long, drawn-out moan. Fili’s head has fallen back, baring his pale neck. It looks strained, tendons standing out, and Kili sees that mark he left on his brother’s skin – a round, reddened imprint. It looks _right_ , and Kili feels a flare of something dark and possessive at that sight.

“Mahal, Kili…feels good… _Kili_ …” Fili sounds like he’s pleading. He’s never sound that way before either, nor has Kili’s name ever rolled off his lips in that intoxicated, sultry manner.

Kili stares at that fully-hard erection in his grasp, and his own manhood is heated and throbbing in his breeches. So this is what _pleasure_ feels like. It’s sweeter than what he’s imagined, sets his nerves alight even more than just watching those mating Dwarves. They don’t sound or move like Fili; not like Fili’s breathy whimpers and the way he bucks up sinuously into Kili’s touch. _This is better_. _Fili’s better._

“Look, Fili…” Kili urges his brother to open his eyes and keep watching. “Your cock’s wet…” As if to prove his point, he rubs his fingers over that little slit at the head of Fili’s arousal. Even more fluid leaks from it, like it’s weeping from the torment.

_One Dwarf shoved apart the other’s powerful thighs, lowered his head, and sucked his erection into his mouth._

Was that what he was trying to suck out? Kili takes a few moments to consider his next move. He’s excited enough like this, playing with his brother’s cock and slowly reducing the golden Dwarf to shattered pieces. He doesn’t know if he actually wants to put this into his mouth. What if it tastes funny?

But if he doesn’t, then what’s the _point_ of this whole experiment? He’ll have to assess every method and every technique, naturally. He doesn’t want to have regrets later on in life and bemoan the fact that he’s too lily-livered to test every aspect of this experiment.

“Fili,” Kili says solemnly, and stops tugging at his brother’s cock so that Fili can regain enough of his senses to focus his glazed eyes on him. “I’m going to try something. I don’t know how it’ll feel like. If it’s good, let me know. If it hurts, scream and I’ll stop.”

“Wha – ” That is far as Fili gets before Kili clamps his lips over the tip of his cock. And _sucks_. 

Fili screams.

That shocks Kili enough for him to pull his mouth away and actually jump an inch into the air. “What?” he asks, panic rising in him. “Did it hurt?”

“No…” Fili can barely speak. “No, that…” He reaches and tangles a shaky hand into Kili’s wild locks. “That feels amazing…I…” His lips are trembling, and cheeks reddening. “Again. I want it again.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Kili says and knows his face looks as smug as he sounds. “It does, does it?” He tucks his unruly hair behind his ears to get them out of the way, then lowers his head in a showy display. He sticks his tongue out, touches it to the pulsing head of Fili’s cock, then drags over it ever so slowly. “It tastes strange…” He informs Fili. But it doesn’t taste bad. Sort of bitter-salty, and musky with what he thinks is the scent of Fili’s arousal. “I’ll get used to it though…” he smiles, sweetly and beguilingly. “With practice…” And with that, he takes his brother’s cock back into his mouth again.

He doesn’t know what he’s doing, of course. But Fili is moaning and whimpering underneath his mouth, and his thighs are jerking like he wants to close them and escape. But with Kili sprawled over his groin, there’s no escape anywhere. So Fili lies there, writhing helplessly from Kili’s attentions. Kili learns as quickly as he can, taking his cues from the sounds Fili’s making. He discovers that when he traces the veins of Fili’s cock with his tongue, his brother moans a little bit louder. And he groans even more _desperately_ the deeper Kili takes him into his mouth, and the harder that his cock is squeezed by the insides of Kili’s cheeks and the back of his throat.

That is as deep as Kili can take for now. He daren’t swallow Fili any deeper, in case he gags. To make up for it, he suckles faster at that throbbing erection.

Suddenly, Fili’s hands are in his hair, scrabbling at him. “Kili! I…I’m going to...!” He is trembling uncontrollably, trying to push Kili’s mouth off his cock, and not succeeding with Kili’s weight pinning him down. “Let go. Stop or…” His voice is rising into a cry and his body is going rigid.

Kili is confused. It’s obvious his brother is in the throes of pleasure. He definitely likes whatever Kili’s mouth is doing to his cock, so why should Kili stop?

In the next moment, with a loud, abrupt _yell_ , Fili’s whole body arches off the bed, and thick spurts of fluid flood into Kili’s mouth.

Out of pure reflex, Kili swallows the first couple of mouthfuls. Then, it gets too much and he cannot get it down his throat fast enough, and he swiftly pulls away, coughing and choking as some of the fluid runs down his chin. The first thought is that it tastes the same as the liquid on the head of Fili’s cock, except it’s thicker and stronger. Then, with eyes blown wide, Kili continues watching the sticky strings of white spurt from Fili’s cock onto his belly, and he grows frantic.

Fili’s hands are tearing into the bed linens, eyes squeezed shut, and features twisted in what looks like pain to Kili’s panicked eyes. He also sounds like he’s _sobbing_. Frightened, Kili hovers nervously until Fili’s face and breathing even out and his eyes begin to flicker open, then Kili flings his arms around his brother’s boneless, pliant body.

“I’m sorry,” Kili blurts out in a single rushed breath. “I’m sorry, Fili. Did I hurt you? I’m sorry!” It takes a while for him to realise that Fili’s hands are in his hair, petting the locks in soothing strokes.

“Dimwit,” Fili says, his tone light and teasing. He raises his head and there is a laugh in his weary eyes. “Don’t you know what that was?”

“No…” Kili chews anxiously on his bottom lip. “I didn’t see them do _that_. Their cocks didn’t shoot anything out like yours did.”

Fili actually winces. “Your language is atrocious.” Then he sighs and shifts to cradle Kili a little more comfortably in his embrace. “Idiotic little brat. You didn’t watch them to the end, did you?” he says against Kili’s cheek. “That was a climax.”

“Did it feel good?”

“ _Better_ than good. The _best_ kind of good.”

“Really?” Just like that, Kili is brightening already. He pulls away and sits back on his haunches. There is an appraising and almost clinical air about him. “You know. I’ve made you feel better than good in so many ways,” he holds up several proud fingers. “I think my erectile experiment has been a success.”

Fili rises slowly onto his hands and stares at his brother like he’s grown horns. “Your _what_?”

Kili ignores him, and mentally pens down the definition of an _Erectile Experiment_. To touch a phallus-shaped object, preferably that belonging to Fili, in an inappropriate manner.

* * *

  


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After that experiment, Fili feels guilty about it. And when Kili becomes distanced and distracted, Fili is even more upset. Their misunderstanding comes to a head one night, and they make it up to each other.

The house is quiet.

That in itself is a very strange business.

Fili goes to the kitchen and greets his Mamma. She is busy but smiling, and she gestures upwards with a wry twinkle in her eyes. Fili knows what that means. Nodding, he grabs a few sweet cakes from the cooling rack, kisses her quickly on the cheek, then goes up the stairs towards the room he shares with Kili.

The door is slightly ajar, and that makes Fili grin to himself. Kili must have left it open to listen for his arrival home back from lessons. Carefully, he pushes it open and steps inside.

At one glance, Kili is nowhere to be found. Then, Fili sees the one half of a dark, tousled head peeking out from the other side of the bed, where Kili must be propped up against. Fili takes big, dramatic movements, crossing the room and flopping himself onto their shared bed. He half-crawls, half-slithers across the bed to his brother’s head, and looks down.

True enough. Kili is seated cross-legged on the floor, his back leaning against the side of the bed. But unexpectedly, there is a _book_ on the younger Dwarf’s lap, which he is studying very intently. And even more surprisingly, the pages are full of dense wording, with no pictures.

“Kili,” he prods his brother’s head, and gets ready for the usually enthusiastic, overly-ardent response he always gets from Kili.

The dark-haired Dwarf grunts in acknowledgement.

Fili blinks. That…is hardly what he expected. “Kili?” he says now, stretching down one hand with a cake.

The other Dwarf takes a look at the sweet treat, and shrugs. He continues gazing down at the book, entirely ignoring Fili’s existence.

“Kili, what – ”

“I’m busy.”

That silences Fili effectively, and he draws away, confused. Lately, Kili has been burying himself in all sorts of unlikely activities – namely, _studying_ and _reading_ – instead of practising his archery, or riding. Without Fili. That’s never happened before. Ever since they’ve been Dwarflings, they’ve done everything together.

And by _everything_ –

It also means things that they should not have done together. Fili remembers that time Kili has asked to perform an experiment on him. He had agreed, thinking that all Kili wanted was to satisfy a passing curiosity. In the end, it was a very carnal process of Kili’s hands all over his body, Kili’s mouth taking kisses deep between his thighs, and ended up with him climaxing into Kili’s throat, and on his chin. The young Dwarf had been the very picture of defiled innocence, his eyes so wide and earnest, cheeks still with that youthful roundness to them, and his lips and chin glistening with the remnants of Fili’s release.

It was so, _so_ wrong. Fili would never allow himself to do that to his little brother ever again. Since that day, he had steadfastly refused any further advances or experiments that Kili wanted to conduct. Kili would not give up, of course. It was not in his nature to back down before a challenge, or to give up on something once he had put his mind to it. But Fili is every bit as stubborn as Kili is determined, and neither would budge on his position.

Until a week ago.

Thinking back now, Fili realises that that was when it started. Kili abruptly stopped all his pestering of Fili to kiss and touch and hug, and began to read instead. And it wasn’t a passing interest either. He would spend _hours_ shuttered away in their room, nose buried in his book. When he first cultivated that scholarly activity, he would still respond to Fili, grinning when Fili tossed him little treats that Mamma made, agreeing when Fili asked to visit the market square or practise their weapons with their friends. Then, Kili’s smiles began to grow distracted, and he started to refuse outings with Fili.

These days, he hardly talks to Fili anymore.

Fili stares down blankly at the cakes in his hands. It is normal for brothers to become distant when they grow up. After all, they have their own circles of friends, and different interests. Kili loves archery and boisterous comrades who join him in gallivanting around the little towns and hamlets of Ered Luin. Fili prefers his twin falchions and friends who know when to leave him be in privacy when the mood strikes him. He and Kili are already beginning to leave their stripling years behind and mature into adulthood. Is it not commonplace, then, to live separate lives?

Fili understands that in theory. But in practice, it is a difficult pill to swallow.

Quietly, he retreats to the far end of the bed and downs the cakes himself. This is the first time in his life when Kili is in the same room as he, but he feels as though his brother is somehow so very far away.

++++++++++

One. Two. Three peeks.

When he is absolutely sure that Fili is asleep, he shuts the book he’s been poring over, and tucks it away. His eyes are tired after staring at so many pages of words for so long. He’s never enjoyed books and lessons as much as Fili or Ori. It’s been a long while since he last picked up a proper book and read it on his own accord – and enjoyed it for that matter. But _this one’s different_. And it’s _important_ too. So important that he must forego some time with Fili in order to complete reading it.

Well. Now he has, and he feels like he’s accomplishment a colossal achievement. He’s noticed Fili becoming quiet recently, looking at him now and then with a quizzical, confused expression. No matter. He will make it up to Fili in no time soon.

Tonight, however, Kili wants to celebrate his completion of his mission. _And_ he has someone of great significance to meet.

The meeting place is the tavern just around the bend outside their home. It is small, but well-stocked with ale, mead and cider. Mamma doesn’t like them to go so often, so sometimes he and Fili would sneak out and get something to share between the both of them. He knows the way there like the back of his hand.

Kili glances towards the bed again. Fili is all squeezed to the very edge of his side of the bed. Though there are five years between their ages, the difference has lessened in significance over the years. They are nearly of the same build already; Kili is a whisker taller, and Fili a shade sturdier. And now, clad in his night-shirt, and having kicked off the blankets in his sleep, Fili almost seems younger.

Quietly, Kili potters over and picks up the scattered blankets from the floor. He places them carefully over his slumbering brother, then instinctively leans down to kiss one upturned cheek. But he thinks better of it at the last moment and pulls back. Better not to wake Fili; he has to get up early in the morning for more lessons.

Satisfied with everything now, Kili leaves the room and closes the door softly behind him.

++++++++++

He waits until he hears Kili’s footsteps recede into nothingness, before he opens his eyes. He stares upwards at the ceiling rafters for several moments, then sits up slowly. He’d barely slept, waiting to hear Kili shut his book and put it away, and anticipating the dip in the bed which would tell him that Kili is slipping under the covers next to him. He’s grown so used to Kili’s warmth, it’s impossible for him to sleep without it.

But the bed didn’t move, and Kili walked around to where he lies. He felt the soft pressure of blankets being laid on him, and Kili’s purposely-quiet breathing very near his face. Then the other Dwarf drew away and left.

Now Fili is truly alone in their room.

He has a good notion of where Kili would be – that tavern near their home. This is the first time Kili has gone there without him. And it wouldn’t have been anything upsetting, but the secrecy of it all unsettles Fili more than anything else. Why does Kili even feel the need to hide such a trivial matter from him?

Unless, of course, it is not a trivial matter. Perhaps Kili is meeting a suitor there. Or Kili could be the one doing the courting. It’s plausible either way, and it makes perfect sense. After all, Kili is already forty-six. He should be having his own experiences with attraction and dalliances.

Fili suddenly remembers that day when Kili experimented on _him_. He shouldn’t think that Kili would only want to do _those things_ with him. After all, Fili has some experiences of his own with other Dwarves. Not that there are many, and he’s stopped since he and Kili had –

Frowning, Fili cuts off his train of thought. He must not think like that and shackle Kili from living his life the way he should as a maturing young Dwarf. If one of them must bear the burden of forbidden urges, then it should be Fili. He just…wishes it wouldn’t make him feel so lonely.

Sighing inwardly, Fili slides back down onto the bed and stares upwards again. He should get to sleep. So, he shuts his eyes. He does not know how long he lies like that, in the state of trying his darndest to get to sleep. But his eyes are wide awake behind his lids, and despite his best intentions, his mind waits for his brother.

And the wait is shorter than expected.

It seems an hour or so had passed, before he hears the door to their room open. His traitorous heart skips a beat, then speeds up as he hears Kili moving around the room. Cautiously, and very stealthily himself, Fili opens his eyes just enough to see what his idiot of a brother is doing.

Still clad in the thick layers of his day attire, Kili seems almost busy as he rummages through his drawers. In an incredibly sneaky manner. It is in the middle of the night. Kili’s gone and returned from the tavern, while _Fili_ waits like an anxious maiden, and now Kili’s more interested in his Mahal-forsaken drawers than getting into bed! And Fili’s furious with himself for thinking like this at all.

Before he even knows it, Fili bolts upright on the bed and demands, “What are you doing?”

Cursing out loud, the younger Dwarf spins around. His eyes are wide and he has one hand on his heart, which may or may not have stopped beating for several seconds.

“You scared me to death!”

“Answer me!”

The brothers hiss at the same time. They have enough sensibility left to keep their voices down, but that is not to say they are not annoyed with each other – for different reasons. The tension in the room thickens as they _look_ at each other. Then, Kili carefully pushes his drawers close, before coming over to the bed.

“Well?” Fili presses him, doing his level best to keep the anger out of his tone. It’s getting harder and harder to remember his earlier reasoning that it is understandable that Kili should have the freedom to meet anyone he wishes, and at whichever place he chooses, with or without Fili in tow.

“I’m getting ready to sleep,” Kili says casually, shrugging his shoulders. “What else does this look like?” And indeed, he is getting ready for bed. He begins shedding his layers of clothes, tossing them carelessly to the floor.

“Where were you?” Fili says brusquely, casting a glance of pure irritation at the articles of clothing dotting the floor now. He knows he sounds like a shrill, chiding wife of sorts. But the sight of Kili standing there – now just in his breeches, for Mahal’s sake – with that nonchalant expression on his stupid, handsome face is so _infuriating_.

Did he just think of Kili as handsome?

Kili stares at him for several long, unbearable moments, before he admits, “Tavern.”

Just that. A single word. Fili grits his teeth. _Keep calm_. “For what reason?”

“My own reason.” With that, Kili pulls the covers off and slides into bed. His body is a long, rippling stretch of sun-browned skin against the white of the sheets, the breeches slung low on his hips. Yawning, he flops comfortably onto his back, stretching out his limbs so widely his fingers brush against Fili’s side.

Fili actually feels the last tenuous shred of his control snap. He scoots over to Kili in one hard movement, and _glares_ down at the half-naked Dwarf. “You went to the tavern by yourself. You made me wait for your return. And now you’re telling me you were there for no particular reason?”

Kili’s eyes have slid down to half-mast, but now there is a gleam in those dark orbs. “You waited for me?”

If Kili wants to play this game, Fili shall oblige. “You went to meet someone?”

“How long did you wait?”

“Who were you meeting?”

Their voices are rising sharply now.

“Are you jealous?”

Fili snaps his mouth shut. He’s damned no matter the reply he gives to that question. And so, there is no need to answer. Besides, and the realisation only makes Fili even more upset, he’s given himself away with his unreasonable interrogation, and he’s promised himself not to do that. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, Fili looks away and moves to return to his side of the bed.

Hands shoot up, grab hold of his undershirt, and drag him _down_.

The breath is knocked out of Fili’s chest, and the room around him does a mad caper across his gaze. Then, he finds himself sprawled all over Kili, his face crushed against dark, unruly curls. Kili’s arms lock around his body, keeping him firmly in place, and a soft nose rubs against his cheek.

The sudden scent and feel of Kili come crashing all around Fili, enveloping him in warmth.

“I miss you, Fili…” the younger Dwarf sighs in a small voice, suddenly sounding like a child again.

Fili sighs, feeling all his anger beginning to melt into nothingness. Such is the power of his foolish, brazen brother. “Me too…” he confesses. He pauses then, and now that he’s lucid again, he thinks about how tempestuous he had been earlier, and he is ashamed of it. “I’m sorry,” he finishes quietly.

Beneath him, Kili shifts and arranges their bodies so that Fili is braced on his elbows, and Kili is peering up at him.

“For what?” Kili looks right into his eyes.

For throwing a temper for no proper reason. For allowing Kili and himself to trespass into territory beyond the boundaries of kinship. For not being able to let go and _stop thinking of Kili in a way that no brother should_.

“Everything,” Fili says honestly. Painfully. He doesn’t think Kili would understand what he really means.

True enough, the puzzlement deepens on Kili’s face some time. Then, abruptly, the kink between his brows eases and he smiles. Brightly. “Well, I’m sorry too.”

Fili sighs deeply. “Kili. You don’t understand – ”

“I do. I’m sorry for making you feel sorry.”

Fili blinks now. _What?_

“I won’t let you bear this alone.”

Kili sounds so resolute, so determined, and so grown-up that it makes Fili’s heart ache.

As if sensing his distress, Kili continues on hurriedly and anxiously. “I didn’t mean to go to the tavern without you. You have to wake up early in the morning, I remember that. I was only meeting someone for business. He’s just a _friend_ , nothing more. I’m not fucking him. Ugh,” he actually pauses and makes a sound of disgust. “I don’t want to be near his cock or – ”

“ _Kili_!” Fili cuts him off in mid-rant. He’s caught somewhere between being touched by Kili’s earnest apology, and mortified by his horrendous language. “Would you stop talking like a scoundrel!”

“Well, it’s the truth,” Kili retorts sullenly, stubbornly. “I want _you_ and nobody else.”

Fili has no right to feel glad about that, but he does. He also shouldn’t feel relieved, and pleased, and _aroused_. And he feels all of them too – especially that last part. Quickly, he raises himself off Kili, trying not to reveal his stirring manhood.

“Don’t move,” Kili protests, tugging him back down so their bodies are completely pressed limb to limb. “I like feeling you – ” he suddenly goes very still, and when he speaks again, his voice is roguishly sly, “I like feeling you like _this_.” Then he lifts his hips and rubs their crotches together.

Already there is an answering bulge at the front of Kili’s breeches.

Languid frissons of warmth slither into Fili’s loins. “Kili…” he protests, and betrays himself by the tremor in his voice. It is getting terribly hard to think. Their bodies shift and slide, each movement sparking a little more pleasure in the midst of their tangled thighs.

The glow from the candle-lamps throws the room into a haze of golden light and velvet shadow. Beneath him, Kili’s eyes are heavy-lidded, and his smile sultry. It must be a trick of the light, because Fili abruptly notices things about Kili that he hasn’t before. He is not sure when it happened, but Kili’s features have begun to shed their child-like softness, taking on chiselled edges. In tandem, his body has grown hard and his shoulders are broad. There is now brimming _masculinity_ to his form. All of these combine to bring a flush of heat suffusing through Fili’s veins.

Like a sinuous creature, Kili begins to sit up slowly, until he is braced on his hands. Fili is still somewhat hovering above him, straddling his thighs. Their groins are fused together, and there is no hiding it now. They are both half-hard, and stiffening still.

“Kiss me,” Kili says evenly. There is no demanding inflection to his tone, just a simple, pure _want_.

Fili’s eyes dart to his brother’s lips. They look soft and sweet, and beckoning. They’ve also been wrapped around his manhood once, suckling him to completion. Heat crawls up Fili’s neck.

“Would you regret this?” he asks, throat scraping painfully. His hands are clammy, despite the warmth of Kili’s body under his own. “Because if you would, then we must not even begin this.”

“I’ve already experimented on your body and tasted you.”

“ _Kili_!”

The incorrigible younger Dwarf is chortling, managing to annoy Fili even more severely, while breaking down his resistance at the same time. How is that possible? Then, as if belatedly realising the depth of Fili’s trepidation, Kili sighs and nudges forward on his bottom, and holds up his little finger.

“I would not regret this. I swear on it.” His tone is light, and his eyes deadly serious. “What about you?”

Fili stares at the finger presented to him. How perfectly ludicrous for such a serious conversation. “No regrets,” he swears and hooks his finger around Kili’s.

“Now give me my kiss.”

Fili takes a moment to appreciate the fine joke Mahal has played on him. The one Dwarf Fili has grown to love is the one he cannot live with sometimes, yet cannot live without. Breathing deeply to settle his twitchy nerves, Fili gestures to him to close his eyes.

Obediently, Kili’s eyes slide close. He is still leaning back with his palms on the bed. Like this, he looks like a chaste maiden waiting for her first kiss. Moving forward carefully, Fili takes his brother’s face in his hands and leans in. He hesitates when they are close enough to share breath, then abandons all caution to the wind, and presses their mouths together.

It is all sweetness and feather-lightness at first, just the soft, comforting slide of lips and experimental exploration of each other’s taste. When Kili’s mouth opens, Fili slips his tongue just barely inside, tracing the plush bottom lip. From the way Kili is sighing and pushing into the kiss, Fili thinks he must be doing this reasonably well. When the need to breathe gets a little too much, they pull apart, and Fili watches his brother carefully for any signs of discomfort. Kili’s eyes are still closed and his lips glistening and reddened.  After what seems like an eternity, he slowly opens his eyes and stares at Fili without a word.

“Well?” Fili demands, unsettled by Kili’s silence.

“Not enough,” Kili snaps out two words, then seizes the back of Fili’s head, and _hauls_ him forward.

A most ungainly gasp escapes Fili, and his mind goes blank in the next moment, because Kili’s mouth is _crushed_ onto his. Their teeth clack together painfully, and Kili actually mutters a muffled ‘sorry’ against his lips, before they are kissing again. Clumsily, somewhat sloppily, and so _hard_ Fili’s breaths are wrenched from him. In complete contrast to Fili’s earlier efforts, the moment Fili’s lips part under his, Kili’s tongue plunges into his mouth in a fierce, thorough sweep of every inch within. Unable to stifle the moan in his throat, Fili gives into the bruising kiss, body almost bent backwards, his hands rising to Kili’s shoulders to – _hold on_.

When they break apart for the second time, Fili has about enough presence of mind to breathe, and Kili is now watching him –

With the most insufferably arrogant grin in the whole world. “ _Well_?” Kili smirks.

Well, the little smug bastard. “Too much tongue and saliva,” Fili retorts, glad that his voice comes out more composed than the erratic manner his heart is beating. His lips are still throbbing with the force of that kiss. Is it even one? It felt like Kili was _devouring_ his mouth.

“I’ll practise and I’ll be brilliant at it in no time,” Kili declares, scarcely daunted by the critique.

“Smug, are we,” Fili frowns. There’s a grudging, reluctant part of him that agrees with Kili and anticipates the kind of practice Kili will be doing on _him_ to perfect his techniques, but that doesn’t mean he needs to admit it now. He’s the elder of the two, for Mahal’s sake. _He_ should be showing Kili the ropes in the matters of the flesh, not the other way around!

It’s like Kili can read his mind. “Come now, Fili. I’m only teasing,” he cajoles Fili, then sullies his own innocent demeanour by taking Fili’s hand and laying it on the front of his breeches. “Help me with this, brother.”

“Why should I?” Fili hears himself say above the pounding of blood in his ears. But his hand moves of its own accord, palming the mound he finds there. Heat and inviting hardness strain up into his hand. He experiments with a light squeeze, and Kili’s groan filters into his ear.

One of Kili’s hands reach down to join his. Their entwined, unsteady fingers unlace Kili’s breeches, pulling it down. A column of thick flesh juts out into Fili’s waiting hand, filling his fingers with heated pulsing. He holds it for several heady moments, startled by the feel of Kili in his palm, and overwhelmed by the realisation that Kili is so hard for _him_. Was this what Kili felt the last time he had experimented on Fili? Fili strokes it just once, from base to the head, and it rouses to life, swelling rapidly in his hand, the thick cockhead darkening with blood and arousal. The sight of it sends shivers in little prickles across Fili’s skin.

“Fili…” Kili’s face burrows into Fili’s neck, pressing lips and teeth blindly into the skin to stifle the moans spilling from his throat. “Faster, please…faster…”

Fili feels himself nodding to Kili’s desperate begging, grasping the throbbing shaft more tightly and pumping his hand up and down its length with long, firm drags. His own neck arches instinctively into Kili’s mouth, and his gasps join the muffled cries of pleasure from his brother.

Young and inexperienced as Kili is, he won’t last long. Already, his testes are drawing up, tight and hard and ready. Turning his head to kiss Kili’s temple and murmuring encouragement, Fili increases the speed and intensity of his strokes. The groans below Fili’s head rise sharply into whimpers, and then –

Strings of sticky-white shoot from the cock in Fili’s hand, landing on Kili’s bare chest, and on Fili’s undershirt. “Shh…it’s all right…” Fili whispers as Kili’s whole body jerks in the throes of release. His hand gentles in its motions, but he does not stop just yet as he tugs the last spurts from the helplessly-twitching erection. Kili’s hands dig into his back, fingernails raking over his shirt as he struggles to recover from his climax.

Like a responsible elder sibling, and out of habit, Fili waits for a moment, then begins to put his unmoving brother into some proper order again. He tucks Kili back into his breeches, and laces them up neatly. Heavy pants rise and ebb in the air as Kili rests against his shoulder. The dark-haired Dwarf seems entirely boneless now, and when he finally raises his head, Fili also notes wryly that his brother is looking very sated.

“I liked that,” Kili darts in and kisses him soundly on the lips. “I really, _really_ liked that,” he corrects himself, and punctuates his declaration with more kisses down the side of Fili’s neck.

The hour is late, way past their bed-time. Now they are both wide awake and doing forbidden things to each other, and their mother is _just a hallway away_. More pressingly, right now Fili has a gratified and energised sexual devil on his hands, and a neck that will inevitably be marked and bruised the next day. He also has a neglected, _thrumming_ erection in his own pants, but he is not sure what they should do now. Do they continue? Shouldn’t they stop and retire to bed?

Fili has lessons in the morning with _Mister Balin_. The thought of that does deflate his arousal a little.

“Are you tired?” Kili asks suddenly, looking closely at him.

“A little,” Fili admits. “I’ve been worried about you for so long, and I hadn’t slept well for many nights. And – you – get that look off your face,” he ends curtly, not appreciating Kili’s pleased, cat-like grin.

Kili just chuckles a little, but he makes an agreeable gesture. “All right. We’ll go to bed,” his smile darkens. “ _After_ I make you come.”

Unbidden, Fili makes a little noise in his throat. Damn his brother. That’s all it takes. An unholy twinkle in Kili’s eyes and the way his voice turns rough when he talks about such _indecent_ matters, are enough to send tendrils of desire right into Fili’s groin.

A soft, pert nose nuzzles against Fili’s jaw. “How do you want it?”

Fili thinks back to the last time Kili had touched him that way – with both his hands and his mouth. Both had been immensely pleasurable. “Your hand,” Fili decides, face warming up already.

“Are you sure?” Kili’s tongue tickles his ear teasingly.

It takes much willpower for Fili not to jerk at that wet caress. “Yes, I am. Now get to it,” Fili mutters, trying not to let his need show too obviously. There is a reason for his choice. He _knows_ Kili. The little brat would drag this out for as long he can, and Fili is already rock-hard between his thighs. He wants to _come_ , not to be tortured by his brother.

“Very well,” Kili begins to move.

Fili feels himself grasped and bodily turned around so that his back is flushed against Kili’s bare chest, and Kili’s arms are wrapped around his torso. There is a soft, ticklish pressure beside his face, and he turns his head to find Kili’s chin perched on his shoulder. Keeping his gaze on Kili’s angular profile, Fili’s hands move to his own breeches. Only to be stopped by Kili.

“Let me,” Kili pulls away his hands and presses them to the bed. “I’ll do the work.”

It is an embarrassing, somewhat shameful, and terribly lewd process, watching his lower body being undressed by Kili’s hands. Fili tries but fails to keep himself from shivering when Kili’s fingers nimbly work his laces loose, then move to the top of his breeches and pause there. Fili understands the unspoken command. His cheeks burning, Fili raises his hips and lets Kili push his breeches down to ring his thighs.

“Aren’t you – ” Fili starts.

“Leave them there,” Kili’s voice is low, and hard. He finishes his words with a sharp tug at Fili’s undershirt to lift it out of the way.

Down below, Fili is naked from abdomen to the tops of his thighs. From the thatch of hair at his crotch, his erect shaft is pointing straight up, taut and flushed red. He is entirely exposed to the night air – and to Kili’s intense gaze from over his shoulder.

“I told you…” Kili is breathy now, his words hoarse. “You’re beautiful. Even your cock.”

Fili cannot help but squirm a little. The _filth_ Kili spouts. He feels so bared, and vulnerable like this, held at Kili’s chest and splayed open like a – a slut. His breathing trips when Kili’s fingers curl around his manhood. The grip is too loose for any proper friction, and the sensation entirely maddening when those fingers begin to trace the shape of him, running slowly along the veins circling his shaft.

“Tell me what you want me to do,” Kili’s lips begin to mouth at his ear.

It is belated realisation, but all these are _new_ – the playful nips, the clever graze of tongue, even the way Kili is handling his erection. Has Kili been learning new techniques, or experimenting on himself? Or _others_?

But before Fili gets very far with his mental debate, all thought is chased from his mind as Kili’s thumb brushes teasingly and again, too lightly over the very tip of his cock.

“Kili…” his voice sounds precariously close to whimpering. “Harder. Touch me properly!”

The sudden firm grasp around his member makes Fili inhale sharply. His hips jerk up unconsciously. “Like this?” Kili whispers.

“Yes…” Fili manages through gritted teeth. “Rub…rub me.”

Obligingly, Kili’s hand begins to move up and down his cock. Very. _Very._ Slowly. For long moments, Fili thinks he’ll lose his mind, watching his cock caressed in agonishing inches, and feeling sensation build up to a throbbing peak in his loins, and _kept teetering right there_.

Just when Fili is about to snarl at Kili to hurry the fuck up, Kili’s hand picks up the pace, kneading firmly along the whole column, fingers gently pressing at the moist slit at the cockhead. The words are forced back down Fili’s throat, overtaken by moans instead.

The frustration Fili feels swiftly dissipates, leaving only escalating desire in its wake. He turns his head into Kili’s kisses, gasping quietly into his brother’s mouth, and his hips begin to undulate, bucking up into Kili’s hand as it speeds up. When Kili’s free hand slides down to fondle his sack, Fili is so far gone, all he does is whimper and give himself to the intensifying pleasure.

“Let me feel you come, Fili,” Kili urges him, tugging his cock almost roughly now.

Fili squeezes his eyes shut when the tension finally shatters. He vaguely hears his cry stifled by Kili’s lips, and his lower body arching up. And he is coming so hard and furious over Kili’s hand and the sheets, that his vision whites out for a moment. When his awareness creeps back into his mind, and his eyes can see clearly again, Fili realises just how debauched he looks, with his softened cock dangling between his thighs, and still wet with his own seed.

Mortified, he reaches for his breeches, growing even more appalled when Kili tries to pin them in place.

“I like seeing you like this,” Kili whines, sounding very much like the spoiled brat he is.

Fili just subjects his brother to a very withering look. Determinedly, he removes himself from Kili’s arms, yanks his breeches up, and ties them very securely. Then, he pulls off the soiled sheets of the bed, making a mental note to wash them himself. When he is finally satisfied with his state of dress and the decency of their bed again, he turns around to face Kili, and almost falters. It takes some effort not to blush at the way Kili is gazing at him with that hooded, darkly-hungry look. It makes _no_ sense. Fili is supposed to be the more experienced. How is it that he feels like he’s the one being preyed on?

“We’re sleeping,” Fili informs his brother in no uncertain terms. “And only sleeping. Nothing else.”

“But of course,” Kili blinks earnestly. “What else should we be doing?”

Fili decides wisely not to trust his brother’s apparently tame attitude now. And to prevent any misbehaviour during the rest of the night, Fili tells him to turn over, and he carefully edges up to his back, spooning him in an embrace that is loose enough not to invite any more advances, but snug enough to share body warmth. In response, Kili takes Fili’s arm and pulls it around his own waist. They stay like that for a long, quiet moment, just enjoying the silence and the comfort.

Recalling something, Fili prods his brother. “Why were you at the tavern?” He is genuinely curious this time, and not angered like before. There is still a niggling bud of insecurity in his belly, but for now, it is soothed by the feel of Kili in his arms and Kili’s obvious desire for him.

Kili half-turns just enough for Fili to see the child-like sparkle in his eyes. “It’s a surprise,” he says mysteriously.

Scoffing softly to himself, Fili accepts that reply and buries his face against Kili’s head.

Just moments later, Fili is fast asleep. He does not see or feel Kili carefully slide open the drawers next to their bed and grin down at the contents.

A book – _The Phallus: positions and other practical uses._ And a vial of oil that he has obtained from his tavern friend – spice-scented and _edible_ _._

Kili closes the drawers again, snuggles back into Fili’s chest, and goes to sleep, dreaming of all sorts of exciting experiments to conduct.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bridging chapter so there isn't much action. ^^ I'll make it up in the next chapter!


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